"The piece she did on Slab City is what brought her to us, the residents of Slab City. Her sensitive engaging pictures and recounting of residents’ own stories endeared her to us. She earned our full respect. Respect that is not freely given to many media groups that enter our gates. She lived with us for weeks at a time more than once to truly get a feel for who we are. She was not like other media visitors that blasted in looking for a quick buck, taking quick shots, manipulating the ”stories” into the director’s preconceived staged “documentary”.
…
We would like her family to know: She will be remembered as one of our kindred spirits."

Pheochromocytomas are tumors/cancers of the adrenal glands. If these lead to a large increase in catecholamine production, they might be able to produce mania in the same way that amphetamines can.posted by phenylphenol at 1:53 PM on May 1, 2013

gladly and wemayfreeze, thanks.

I didn't include something in this post because I couldn't figure out what exactly her involvement was, but now I know: Ms. Lum designed and produced the web package for a special project on Koreans in America and Seoul for The Washington Post. She also shot, edited and produced two videos for it: "Changing Course," about a UCLA golfer and "The Return," about a woman with schizophrenia who returns to mental hospitals to help other patients. There doesn't seem to be any way to link directly to those videos, and I couldn't find them on YouTube. Source: her dev page.

I backed the Slab City Stories Kickstarter project. I had no idea she was sick or she passed away until someone posted an update saying she'd passed away. Amazingly that same person has said the family is committed to finishing Jessica's project and distributing it. I could care less about my $20, but that seems like a nice way to honor her work and too-short legacy.posted by Nelson at 2:21 PM on May 1, 2013

Tags

Share

About MetaFilter

MetaFilter is a weblog that anyone can contribute a link or a comment to. A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members.